Remillard Remains Unbeaten With Decision

June 14, 2008|By MIKE ANTHONY; Courant Staff Writer

Set up with a series of stiff jabs to the chin and body, it had to be one of the purest connections of Matt Remillard's young career.

It was a rocking roundhouse right to the chin of Jose Magallon in the fifth round of their WBC youth featherweight title fight Friday at the Connecticut Convention Center, a blow that sent Magallon wobbling to the canvas and Manchester's Remillard to a neutral corner with his arms raised.

"When I dropped him," Remillard said, "I did not think he was going to get up."

Magallon did make it to his feet, which only allowed Remillard to continue to show his hometown crowd that he was the quicker and more technically sound fighter. Fighting in the main event for the first time, Remillard earned a unanimous decision. The judges scored it 96-93, 97-92, 97-92.

"His most impressive fight so far," trainer Paul Cichon said. "Once he got into his rhythm, there was no stopping him."

Remillard (14-0, 7 KOs) dictated the fight by moving Magallon (9-5, 3 KOs) around with his jab in the early rounds. Magallon, of Las Vegas, proved to have a tough chin after the right that floored him by taking some of Remillard's best uppercuts and rights without backing down.

"He was a tough kid," Remillard said. "I was hitting him clean. He hit me with some good punches, too. He found some [holes] in my defense. But he made me a better fighter."

Remillard ended it strongly, connecting with two uppercuts and a right while he had Magallon in the corner late in the 10th and final round.

"It's definitely time to step him up," Cichon said of Remillard's future opponents.

HARTFORD'S GRANO WINS

Tony Grano said he had no idea what type of fighter Leroy Childs was. After 2:43 of the first round, it was clear: an overmatched one.

Grano, a heavyweight from Hartford, weakened Childs with body blows and finished him with several uppercuts to the head, scoring a knockout in the co-feature. Grano (14-0-1, 12 KOs) was outweighed by 50 pounds against Childs (13-2, 12 KOs), from Jefferson City, Mo.

"I was going underneath to the body and back up to the head, just keeping busy, a barrage of combinations," Grano said.

In the next eight months or so, Grano said, he'll be ready to go big-time.